Hello everyone! How are you all? I have finally been improving and able to cut down on my pain meds a bit. My blood pressure is finally normal for the first time in years. The surgeon was right on the money. It took 6 months almost to the day to start feeling improvement and that was after it got so much worse i really thought they did something wrong,but he kept sitting on the stool, right in front of me, face to face with a sincere look in his eye and tone in his voice, while I was sobbing  in tears, scared and hurting, with his hand on my knee, telling me to trust him. So I did and now I am starting to heal. Praise God!

    I still have a very long road, as a matter of fact, I may not completely heal, I had reconstructive surgery  in my neck above the sight of the double discectomy,and the shaving down of  2 additional discs, where they had to turn my curve back the right way and then with 6 titanium screws and 2 titanium plates wired the entire thing all together. The movement in my neck is very limited and some of the nerve damage done is irreversible but we will not know the severity or longevity of the nerve damage until the surgical area is completely healed. I have a 3 - 4” scar on my throat and i can feel the screws sometimes but all in all that part seems much better. I am still on total restrictions and have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and degenerative arthritis and still getting tests done for rheumatoid. I have been putting off the tests that my new rheumatologist has been asking for. I am just so tired of doctors  and xrays and mris and medications.I go several times a month to a few different docs and need to see a couple more. I am still steadily losing weight. And other than butt crunches and core crunches ( not on the floor lifting myself, just tightening ones) I am down just about 70 pounds and my butt, which has been HUGE my entire life....is SMALL! I have a small butt...My husband is so happy...lol He cant leave it or me alone...lol. Unfortunately, under docs orders, anything is “that” de[artment is still off limits. It actually says and I quote...” No sexual activity at all until cleared by your physician” The better I get and the more weight I lose, the harder it is to follow that order...lol But im not doing anything to jeopardize how far I’ve come especially since its not that far !!!

So the rheumatologist says there are surgeries in my future. Im pretty sure it is going to be my left knee first, i cannot go up or down the steps very well as it is and now i have to always lead with my right. The left just gives out on me constantly. Ok lets see what else can i complain about...lol

Good things are....Football season starting. Ryan is a senior and will be starting varsity this year. There is an annual weight lifting competition this week where collectively between bench pressing, squatting and dead lifting the try to lift 1000 lbs or more. My 2 older sons have their names on the wall in the jigh school weight room for accomplishing this feat. I really want to have all 3 of them up there. Ryan has been working out 4 - 6 days a week since January to prepare for this...he is faster than anyone else on the team and for 5‘3” and 160 lbs he is stronger than heck! I cannot wait to see how all his hard work pays off.

Oh a really good thing. I’m going to Baltimore with my husband August 7 and 8...he has a teachers seminar so I contacted our own beautiful Michele Bodycombe to see if we can meet and have lunch while hubby is in his all day seminar and we are going to figure out where to meet. Then my cousins live there as well and I figure when hubbys done we will have dinner with them and then my other cousins from DC are coming down to meet me the 2nd day to have lunch with me and walk around the inner harbor. Im still using a walker but i actually like it now..i walk so much better with it. Vanity is not as important as safety ive discovered the hard way...lol

Another BIG thing...My 22 year old daughter kelly moved out Thursday and went to Ireland. she got a beautiful apartment right on the Irish sea on the Causeway coast....simply gorgeous. I’ve spole to may world travellers who have said that is one of the most beautiful places they have ever seen and my daughter lives there now and it is where my grandmother lived and left Ireland from in 1912 so our family has come full circle! I think that is incredible!She starts University Septembert 19, so she still has a lot of time to set up her place, look for a job and do more sightseeing and make more friends and strengthen bonds with those we already have there.

Lets see...Seans, my 26 year old FINALLY has a wonderful, beautiful, motivated, educated, lovely girlfriend...lol, can you tell i like her? She got him to clean his room!! I think he’s in love...lol. She is a double major at Rutgers University, working as a make up artist for Lancome for 6 years now and is president of the honor society at her college and her sorority. Very nice young woman! Answered prayers!!!

Kate is till struggling terrible and giving me more gray hairs than Id like to talk about...I am at my wits end with her but just cant put her out like i should. Im not strong. She’ll do great for weeks then be wasted for an entire weeek and not remember anything she did wrong or understand why everyones mad at her...its like living on a yo yo. But she does go to all her meetings and she really has been a big help since Ive been sick when she is straight

And then theres Danny..hes great...he works, he has picked up a lot of slack as far as housewrok, shopping and cooking since Ive been sick and he is an amazing cook! He thinks that is what he wants to do now....so there are always silver linings!

My Irish children went back last week. We had an 11 year old Conor who we all fell in love with and Good Lord willing he will return next year!

Hubbys in  a lot of pain...he needs to lose weight. he can arelay walk sometime because his legs swell up. He is trying to be better. He needs surgery on his lower back because of ruptured discs and he cant get it in the shape he is in now....so if you think of it please keep our family in your prayers! As you can see..I have so very muc to be thankful for but we could use a wee bit of help in the prayer department! I hope you are all well...going to go catch up on the dashboard now! Have a great night ladies!